Home-Baked Muffins
The pleasant, spring breeze ran about in the tastefully decorated bedroom, cooling the exposed skin of a figure sprawled out in the dark red sheets. The young man slowly came back from dreamland, his arms shuffling against the soft fabric. He buried his face in the pillow and smiled as he felt sunrays creeping on his back. He turned to enjoy the heavenly caress on his face as well and ran his fingers absentmindedly through fluffy blonde hair. ‘What a peaceful morning!’ he thought and felt the enchanting sleep winning over his relaxed mind, prepared for another sweet nap when a querulous noise brought him back to reality.
Dominic had to rub sleep out of his eyes and take care of his empty stomach. In vain, he rubbed it in circular motions, but the rumbling didn’t subside. He pulled the black t-shirt back over the bronze skin and started convincing his mind that he would get out of the bed in a few minutes. ‘But it’s so comfortable! ’ His mind told him and even though he agreed, Dominic knew that the grumbling would turn into tummy aches and he didn’t want any of those, thank you.
To have a lazy morning was the compromise he finally reached; however, he was disappointed when he peered into the fridge. Nothing good. He also liked to eat freshly- baked pastry, but he didn’t buy anything the previous day. ‘What if I bake something myself?’ he asked and already licked his lips at the thought of delicious muffins. Dominic stumbled away to the cupboards, but he sadly found that there was no more flour and he didn’t have butter, either. The blonde pouted with displeasure and folded his arms as he leaned against the counter and wondered what he could have without leaving the house. His phone started ringing in that moment and he hurried to answer it.
“Hey Dom, I hope I didn’t wake you up?”
“Matt! Hi! No, I’m already awake.”
“Good. How are you, what you’re doing?” his friend asked, Dom hearing noises in the background.
“Nothing much. I’m upset because I wanted to bake some muffins for breakfast and don’t have flour and butter,” the blonde complained.
“Well, go out and buy some!” Matt cackled.
“Ah, too much effort,” Dom yawned.
“Lazy ass,” his friend laughed and Dom heard a door opening.
“Look who’s talking! I remember that once you didn’t shower for a week because you were too lazy to go to the bathroom,” the drummer told back, giggling at his friend’s embarrassed grunt.
“Shut up, I was young and crazy!” Matt cried out his defence.
“You haven’t changed since then,” Dominic replied with a smirk, standing on his balcony and enjoying the bright atmosphere of the things surrounding him.
“Ah, how witty you are today, Mr. Howard!”
“Anyway, Matt…what about you? Are you enjoying the break or do you miss touring?”
“Well, both. It’s nice to have some time for myself, but it’s also difficult to readjust to this life, you know?” Matt explained softly.
“Aha, same here. Have you talked to Chris?”
“Two days ago. You know the Wolstenclan went to Mallorca, right?”
“Yeah, Ava Jo called her favourite uncle to tell him the good news,” Dom smiled and sat down in the living room.
“All right. I have to go now, mate, I’m glad we talked a bit!” Matt suddenly hurried to end the conversation and his friend heard a car engine being started.
“Okay. Thanks for calling, Matt! Have a nice day!” Dom replied and wished they would have chatted more, about anything, just to hear a familiar voice in his lonely house.
He closed his eyes for a moment and a couple of minutes later he woke up to somebody ringing his doorbell. The drummer plodded to his door and opened it calmly. However, his eyes bugged out at the sight of his unexpected visitor.
“Matt!” was all he could shout before hugging the smiling man, suddenly feeling very emotional due to the kind gesture. The brunet was very happy to see that he was so well-received; actually he was quite surprised by the powerful reaction and patted Dom’s back awkwardly. He cleared his throat and they entered the house. Matt clattered the bag he was holding and said with a smirk:
“Lazy ass, do you still want to bake those muffins? I bought you the missing ingredients.”
Dominic was taken aback as his friend unpacked flour, butter, baking powder, milk and eggs on the counter, with the brunet obviously very proud of his shopping skills.
“Matt, how…? Did you buy these while we were speaking on the phone?” the blonde asked as he inspected the goods, a smile never leaving his lips.
“Yes, I wanted to pay you a surprise visit and when I heard about your desperate situation, I decided to put an end to your starving,” Matthew smirked and jumped up in surprise when the blonde rubbed his shoulder with gratefulness shining in his eyes.
He coughed and continued: “I also bought some extra ingredients. I thought you might need them.”
Dom found some bananas, whipped cream and chocolate topping in the bag: “Haha, bananas! You couldn’t live without them, little monkey, could you? Anyway, excellent choice; I already have an idea what to bake!”
Matt leaned on the counter and rested his head on his right palm. He looked Dom over from head to toe and smiled warmly at the sight: his friend’s dishevelled locks sticking up in hundreds of directions, the black t-shirt which seemed too short and the neon green boxers the only pieces of clothing hanging on Dom - all so familiar and endearing in a way.
“What are you staring at?” the blonde asked confusedly and he blushed as he noticed that he was still wearing his sleeping garments. “Uhm, I’ll go and change first. Sorry, I didn’t expect guests.”
When the drummer returned - wearing a pair of comfortable jeans and a yellow t-shirt - he found Matthew lying cozily on the sofa, attentively watching a documentary in the telly.
“Ah ah, Mr. Bellamy, you didn’t think you’d be relaxing while your friend is working hard, did you?” Dominic smiled devilishly, poking Matt in the ribs and tickling him until he was laughing with tears.
“Mercy, Dom, mercy!” the brunet screamed loudly, trying to wiggle away from his friend who was enjoying this activity too much.
Finally, he could breathe with relief and he said with a determined voice: “Dom, you are perfectly aware that I’m an absolute disaster in the kitchen.”
“Come now, just because you had unfortunate experiences…”
“Unfortunate experiences?! Dom, I wouldn’t use that euphemism here! I almost burnt down my kitchen a few times, I put salt in the only chocolate cake that didn’t turn black in the oven and I can’t even make an omelette without leaving a huge mess!” Matt shrieked desperately, the truth of his words confirmed by the mad twinkle in his deep blue eyes.
“Matty, calm down! It’s not like we will bake the wedding cake of the royal couple,” Dominic whispered, taking hold of his friend’s shoulder and looking in his eyes deeply. “I will be there and will prevent you from destroying my kitchen. I promise you that in an hour we’ll be sitting on this sofa and munching our final product.”
Matt looked up at a smirking Dominic and as always, his golden aura and the confidence surrounding him made the singer’s heart throb slower and he agreed to join Dom in his culinary adventures.
“So what are we preparing, finally?” Matt asked as he watched Dom reading the receipt and preparing the other necessary ingredients.
“Well, I thought about banana muffins with nuts. It’s very sweet and delicious, you’ll love it!” the blonde stated as he turned on the cooker. “We need to have the cooker hot by the time the muffins get in. That’s one of the basic rules.”
“Oh, teach me, master, teach me all your secrets!” Matt said, tongue-in-cheek, and bowed.
“Shut up, newbie! Peel two bananas and slice them up,” Dom ordered and his eager eyes watched his amateur friend somehow coping with the task, though his guarded movements spoke of inexperience.
In the meantime, the drummer measured the flour and put it in a big bowl. He decided to reveal further secrets of the muffin-preparing: “We will first mix the dry and wet ingredients separately and then mix them in the end. Hey, you’re not supposed to gobble up the bananas!” Dominic smacked the brunet who was chewing a piece of the aromatic fruit, startling the mischievous helper.
“But it’s iwwestible,” Matt cried out, pilfering another slice of banana.
“Greedy wanker,” the blonde laughed and pinched the singer’s characteristic nose, leaving a trace of white flour on the pale skin.
He laughed heartily and wiped off the dust from Matt’s fake angry face, looking closely to make sure that he cleaned it properly. Matthew gulped and the blonde averted his gaze at the bob of Matt’s Adam’s apple then back to the cerulean orbs. He smiled confusedly and turning his back, he told Matt to cut the nuts into bits.
Matthew set to the task, shooting out his tongue as he concentrated on chopping each bit equally. In the meantime, Dominic melted the butter and put it in another bowl. He added two eggs to the “wet” ingredients and a cup of milk.
“Hey Dom,” the singer called out with an indifferent expression, but he couldn’t fool his friend: he was clearly impatient to ask his question, “do you miss touring?”
The blonde was in the process of adding baking powder to the flour and hoped that the blush creeping on his cheeks was owing to the ever growing heat in the kitchen. He cleared his throat and without looking at Matthew, he answered:
“’Course, I do. Well, sort of. I don’t miss the continuous travelling because it’s good to have a break and enjoy a single place, but I miss the vibe and energy of the gigs. And most importantly,” his voice softened at this part, “I think I miss spending times with my crazy friends.”
Dominic smiled as his mind wondered to old memories, his greyish eyes turning glassy. His raspy voice told the brunet to churn the eggs and butter with the mixer. Dominic’s mimic had a melancholic quality and he added sugar to Matt’s bowl.
“How much do I have to churn this?” the singer asked, annoyed by the monotonous task.
“Until the sugar melts, so stop whining and do your job,” Chef Dominic commanded, but his golden heart didn’t sleep either.
He turned the radio on to keep Matt entertained. Though the picky singer would usually criticise all the pop artists that were broadcast, the easy tunes were welcomed now. A new song started and Dom’s ears perked up. He turned up the volume as he swayed his hips and exclaimed how much he liked that song.
“I haven’t heard it before,” the brunet replied, but he was curious about the hit that made Dom’s body intrinsically vibrate in the hot kitchen.
The blonde knew that he had no talent at singing, but he simply couldn’t keep silent and had to mouth the lyrics, throwing his head sensually and closing his eyes for a moment:
I believe in the wonder
I believe this new life to gain
Like a God that I'm under
There's a drugs running through my veins.
When Dominic opened his grey eyes, he found Matt staring at him, his usual pale cheeks now tinted with red. The blonde smirked as he moved closer to him and Matt’s still and rigid body caught his eyes. Giving in to the temptation, he smacked Matt’s little ass playfully and commanded loudly:
“Dance!”
The brunet jumped and squalled in surprise. He glowered at his friend and growled angrily “I can’t”, but Dominic stepped behind him and took hold of his hips.
“You just have to go with the flow…sway your hips to the rhythm of the music,” Dom whispered in Matt’s right ear, the panted words making the brunet shiver: “Let me lead you.”
I believe in the wonder
I believe I can touch the flame
There's a spell that I'm under
Got to fly, I don't feel no shame.
Dominic continued murmuring the lyrics, Matt feeling pleasantly giddy by the warm hands gently moving his body. The low chanting had the same effect and purpose as the one practised by the Tibetan monks: it transferred him in another word where he felt like floating and forgot about the world surrounding him. It was something unusual because even though he was drifting to another dimension, Matthew intensely felt the heat coming from Dom.
The radio, like an electronic prophet, kept broadcasting the song whose lyrics and beat had a hypnotizing effect on the two men:
The world is mine
The world is mine
The world is mine.
He felt the calloused fingers travelling along his sides. He felt Dominic’s slight morning stubble brushing against his pale neck and he felt the smirk gracing Dom’s full lips as he started yielding to the temptation. If these weren’t enough, he certainly felt Dominic grinding against him and after the first moments of shock - and pleasure, as a voice in his mind affirmed - were gone, the brunet cleared his throat and rasped:
“Okay, got it, I know how to dance now. Let’s get back to our muffins, okay?”
Dominic woke up from the rapturous state he fell into, stepped away from his friend, and went to the shelf where he kept his spices. He took a small bottle and returned with a bright smile:
“Now, we can mix everything,” he said and watched as Matt poured the wet ingredients into the flour.
He took over and made sure to mix the batter with large movements before adding the nuts. Dominic wiped his forehead, fanning himself before revealing the most important weapon of a good baker:
“Though our dessert has to be aesthetic, its taste is very essential. A teaspoonful of cinnamon is enough to make you hum with delight,” Dominic stated with a mysterious smile as the tiny maroon grains coloured the batter.
Matthew was taking deep breaths of the delicious warm perfume hovering in the air and gulped when the drummer invited him to fill the empty muffin caps together. Of course, Dominic didn’t stop murmuring the lyrics which echoed loudly in the brunet’s head, along with his own thoughts. ‘What’s this excitingly weird feeling in my stomach? Why am I so confused?’ he asked himself and honestly, Dominic’s proximity didn’t help at all.
Take a look what you've started
In the world flashing from your eyes
And you know that you've got it
From the thunder you feel inside.
Matthew, without thinking, reached out and placed his left hand on the small of Dominic’s back. His friend didn’t freak out or draw apart from the touch; even though Dominic kept smiling eloquently, he didn’t make any movement. Matt, who was famous for his paranoia, thought that the blonde only let Matt touch him because he was too polite to tell him to fuck off. However, the drummer, knowing his friend since their teens, looked deeply into the cerulean eyes and hoped that his expression was a mirror of his secret desires. He filled the last empty cups, put the banana slices on each muffin’s top and sang quietly:
I believe in the feeling
All the pain that you left to die
Believe in believing
In the life that you give to try.
Matt could hardly contain himself from pushing Dominic against the fridge and kissing him fiercely. His patience was rewarded as Dominic put on oven mitts and leaned in to place the muffins in the cooker. Dominic’s backside rounded nicely in the dark jeans and the brunet fantasized about avenging the startling smack he received earlier. He didn’t have more time for daydreaming though, because he was the one shoved against the wall and Dominic put his hands beside Matt’s flushed face:
“Were you staring at my backside, Bellamy?” the blonde whispered in the singer’s ear and started slowly kissing his prominent jawline.
Their lips crashed hungrily, the long-awaited kiss prompting them to discover the secret touches that made the other moan desperately for more. The boys moved to the sofa in the living room without interrupting their intense snogging. This time, Matthew remained on top and took his time to admire the excitement shining in Dom’s eyes and the interesting fact that his friend’s lips seemed even more tempting when a bit swollen and redder.
I've lost my fear to what appears
I do my best(the world is mine)
You seem surprised and realise
That to your eyes (the world is mine).
Dominic raked his fingers through the brunet’s locks and brought him back against his heaving chest. Afraid that Matt might run away, he also put his muscular legs around Matt’s waist and whimpered as the singer scattered hot kisses across his face and neck, while the long, elegant fingers roamed freely. Matthew surely didn’t have any intentions of running away and that was more and more evident as the minutes passed and passion rose to high levels. As much as Dominic enjoyed the mind-blowing friction, he remembered that there was something in the oven.
“Matt, Matt, stop a bit,” he rasped deliriously.
“What, was I shitty? Am I too heavy? I-I can, we can change positions,” the brunet sputtered nervously.
Dom kissed him reassuringly: “No, you silly, you are wonderful. But we have to take out the muffins.”
Matthew sighed with relief and followed the blonde in the kitchen. The golden delicacies smelled heavenly and after they cooled, Matt put them proudly on a plate. The boys shared a muffin to taste their masterpiece and the singer noted that his favourite fruit tasted better baked.
“Yep, because the water evaporated through the baking process, so they are more concentrated,” Dominic explained as he took the whipped cream and chocolate topping.
“I completely forgot about those, but I’m so glad I bought them,” Matthew smirked mischievously and wiggled his eyebrows.
“Really?” Dominic smiled as he sat on Matt’s lap and munched another muffin. “Why so?”
“Let’s go in your bedroom and I’ll show you,” the brunet replied in a sultry voice as he took Dominic in his arms in order to spend the rest of their magical day in the most pleasurable way possible.
Here's a pic of the muffins. I baked them myself! They are extremely delicious!
